Nexus - 0405 - New Times Magazine-pages

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... GL@BAL NEWS ... NEWS residing in the USA under government protection, according to Manfred Meyer, another Berlin underworld figure connect- ed to the operation. The Dispatches program also revealed what has long been seen as the principal motive behind the US desire to remove Qadhafi from power: oil. In 1973, Libya nationalised 51 per cent of all oil compa- nies (mainly British, French and American) and doubled the price of its crude oil. In 1974, it nationalised three US oil companies and announced an oil embargo on the United States. (Source: David Guyatt, david.g7@ukon - line.co.uk; also see his article, "Target Libya", in NEXUS 4/02) after the prints have been wiped off. Researchers at the Victoria Forensic Science Centre in Melbourne have suc- cessfully identified individuals from the minute quantities of DNA in their finger- prints, and were able to do this with as lit- tle as 0.5 nanograms of the material. Forensic scientist Roland van Oorschot reports it is sometimes possible to identify each of a succession of people who han- dled an object. However, it is also claimed that the tech- nique could backfire, as DNA profiles from objects handled by many people can be difficult to interpret. Investigators must take extra precautions when handling objects lest their own DNA be picked up. Worse still, small quantities of DNA can pass from person to person when shaking hands—which means that someone else's DNA could turn up on an object they had never touched. (Sources: Nature, vol. 387, 19 June 1997; New Scientist, 21 June 1997) is bone-dry, it could be microwaved with a glass of water and would probably be as good as gold. (Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, Column 8, 26 May 1997) HOLOGRAPHIC BATTLEGROUND S Congress has just approved funding for the Army to perfect a laser that projects life-sized hologram decoys of troops and tanks, designed to fool enemies on the battlefield. Dubbed the "Ghost Gun", the hologram projector could also be used to display virtual images of religious or political leaders in order to create calm or panic amongst the public. US Army scientist Dr Gary Wood, who is leading the project at the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, Maryland, said: "One of the scenarios was Saddam Hussein standing on a balcony spouting pro-American messages or telling troops to lay down their arms. We are well on the way to perfecting it." It is predicted that within 10 years many of the troops seen by enemy units on the battlefield may be no more than 3D, laser- generated images. US defence consultant Dr Brenda Mark said, "Anyone looking at the target area will think the US Army has a major presence there when in fact there will be nothing but empty space." (Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 May 1997; The Sunday Mail [Brisbane], 25 May 1997) IRAN IMPLICATED IN LOCKERBIE BOMB PLOT Gey has reopened its investigation into the Lockerbie bombing because of allegations made by a senior Iranian intelligence defector who blames Iran, not Libya, for instigating the 1988 bombing. A recent edition of the German news magazine, Der Spiegel, reveals that Abolhassem Mesbahi, the Iranian intelli- gence defector who was also an aide to former President Ali Hashemi-Rafsanjani, told German investigators that Iran was behind the terrorist bombing. He told the Germans that Iran ordered and organised the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 as a reprisal for the USS Vincennes' downing of a civilian Iranian Airbus, with 290 people on board, in July 1988, just five months before. Der Spiegel said the new details were being withheld from both the British and Americans because of disagreements over the Lockerbie 'plot', and differences between Bonn and Washington over their policy on Iran. (Sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 July 1997; The Guardian Weekly [UK], 13 July 1997) FAST FOOD, SLOW ROT tudent of science, Ben Metcalf, of Bondi Junction, Sydney, wants to con- gratulate McDonald's on its preservatives. A year ago he bought a cheeseburger at a city McDonald's and decided to stash it in a drawer and observe it over time. "Not a skerrick of mould," he reported last week. "Top-drawer stuff." He added that although the cheeseburger CRIMINALS FINGERED BY GENES Niners are the days when a burglar just wiped off incriminating finger- prints from furniture and door handles, and when gloves guaranteed protection. Forensic scientists already routinely identify criminals using DNA obtained from blood stains, semen, hair, and even cigarette butts. But now they can identify people using DNA from the fingerprints themselves which are left on objects, even NEXUS <7 AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1997